


The Past and Memories of M. J. Caboose

by AnimeXIII, DreamingFandoms



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: BAMF Caboose, M/M, Multi, OOC Caboose, Project Freelancer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 14:01:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5873134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnimeXIII/pseuds/AnimeXIII, https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingFandoms/pseuds/DreamingFandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caboose is known for is clueless, adorable attitude, but what if he was more than that? And why do the AIs keep saying he's Agent Florida?<br/>He wasn't in Project Freelancer, was he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Reds, Blues, and a Caboose

**Author's Note:**

> We always loved the thought of Caboose being a closet badass.  
> -XIII

The base was silent, the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. Everyone was still asleep, soft snores echoing through the halls. One lone figure in cobalt blue armor stood outside in the crisp morning air.

Caboose was quiet, not even his breaths were heard. He breathed in deeply, lungs filling with the cool air of Valhalla. The tall soldier began stretching, dropping to the grass and started push ups.

Once his muscles were loose, he started a brisk jog, slowly gaining speed until he was running around the large base. His footsteps were silent, hitting the grass lightly.

After several laps he slowed, his friends would be waking up by now. Caboose walked back into the solid concrete and steel building. He strolled to the showers and did his morning washup, shower, brush teeth, comb hair, and polish armor.

He was done minutes before Agent Washington and Agent Carolina came in wearing night clothes.

"M'rnin'." Washington yawned, running a hand through his bleached hair. He didn't question why Caboose was already in his armor, though he did mentally curse at not getting a chance to see Caboose's real face.

"Good morning, Agent Washintub!" The taller said cheerily, as if it wasn't even 8 in the morning.

"You shower already?" Carolina took off her clothes, not even bothering to hide herself. She knew neither of the two men swinged that way.

"Mhm!" Caboose kept his gaze above her shoulders politely. "I gotta start breakfast soon!"

"Don't burn yourself." Washington yawned again, handing his sister a towel.

"I won't!"

...................................

Caboose flipped a pancake, a steadily growing stack of the delicious food beside him. His team mates sat at the table behind him, all blinking sleep from their eyes.

"Pancakes are ready!" He exclaimed excitedly, turning to them with both hands holding stacks of fluffy goodness.

Church flickered into view beside his head. "Syrup is in the cabinet."

"Man, your cooking is amazing, dude!" Tucker hummed around a mouthful of pancake, the others nodded in agreement. 

"That is kind of you, Tucker!" Caboose smiled behind his helmet. 

They spent the rest of the day cleaning the base, a normal thing they did every two weeks. Tucker complained but Wash shut him up real quick. 

The team settled down in the grass as they watched the sun go down. Everyone out of armor except Caboose, a thing that made the others curse.

They were thankful for times like these, where it was peaceful, unlike the times where they had to fight to survive. The reds sat beside them, usually chatter gone as they enjoyed the quiet.

Caboose sighed happily and laid back to stare at the darkening sky. The others glanced at eachother as his armor gently reflected the dying light.

They would see what was under that suit, no matter what it took.


	2. Silent Sorrows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarge builds a new machine, Caboose's heart shatters once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, DF and I are planning something big. No spoilers!
> 
> Sorry if it's short, can't really concentrate right now!

_"Hey, what's with the long frown, huh?"_

Caboose could hear the blast, again.

_"Don't stop smiling, it makes me happy."_

So much blood, he could never stop it.

_"A smile like that doesn't deserve to be hidden."_

No, not again.

_"GEORGIA!"_

Caboose shot up, his chest heaved as he covered his eyes. His pillow was wet from tears, he didn't notice that he was sobbing. 

A soft knock made him freeze. "Caboose? Are you okay? I hear crying." 

Right, he was Caboose now, he had friends. 

He cleaned himself up and put on a shaky smile. "I'm okay, Agent Washingtub! Mister Teddy fell and I got scared!"

Wash chuckled. "Alright, don't forget about training today." 

"Yes, sir, Agent Washingtub!" Caboose kept smiling until he could no longer hear Wash's footsteps. His gaze went back to his lap, silent tears falling. 

_"I'll never forget your smile, Mikey."_

.........................................

Caboose hummed as he walked away from the bucket of oil and hook that was designed to take his helmet off. Like he was gonna fall for that!

Wash and Carolina cursed as their trap didn't work, how did Caboose get 10 feet away in under a second?!

"Plan G?"

"Plan G."

"I'll get the mop."

...........................................

"Just one more bolt here aaannd done!" Sarge stepped back to admire his handy work.

A cone-like machine sat there, glowing white and painted red. It beeped every other second and whirred softly.

Sarge sighed happily as he gazed at his newest machine. He couldn't be any prouder, if onpy Grif was gone, then he would be even happier!

"Wait til those dirty Blues get a load of this!" He cacklef as he walked out, he didn't notice his bottle of water tipping over and spilled on his creation.


	3. Plan G Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plan G doesn't work out so well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for not posting in over 3 months.

"Wash to Carol, I'm in position." Wash whispered, hiding behind a wall.

"Roger that, target is in sight." Carolina murmured back, eyes on the cobalt armor walking through the hall to the main room.

Caboose wasn't clueless to their plan, he knew exactly where each of them were hiding. He walked into the living room to see Sarge showing off his new cone bot.

"This baby'll scan any enemy and tell us every single weakness they got!" Sarge stated proudly to Tucker and the other Reds.

"Sounds stupid." Grif grumbled next to Simmons, getting elbowed in the side. "What?! It is!"

"That's great, Sarge!" Simmons smiled at the Elder.

"You bet your balls it is! We can finally take out those damn Blues!" Sarge grinned.

"I'm right here, you know." Tucker sighed, his statement was ignored. All of them knew Sarge won't be stopping this rant anytime soon. The Blue just wished he brought some popcorn for the part where Sarge spends 15 minutes threatening Grif.

"I wish this beauty would take out a certain Hawaiian soldier." Sarge began, Grif groaned.

"I can hear you, dipshit."

"Sittin' on the couch."

"I'm not deaf."

"Next to Simmons."

"Still here."

"In the yellow armor."

"It's orange, you old motherfucker."

"Grif! Shut yer goddamn trap! I'm tryin' to wish fer yer untimely demise!" The elder glared at said soldier, Grif sighed and grumbled as Sarge continued with his rant. 

"Hello, everyone!" Caboose shouted happily, walking forward to pat Tucker on the back, nearly sending him over the coffee table. "How are you?"

"We're good, Caboose. Sarge is just going on about how he built a robot to find out and exploit your team's every weakness." Simmons said casually as Sarge squawked at the fact he was telling the 'enemy' his plan.

"Oh, so normal Tuesday stuff?" Caboose ignored the sinking feeling in his gut. The machince wouldn't actually tell them about _that_....would it?

"Yeah, basically." Grif sighed, he wondered if he could take a nap during this, who was he kidding? He would take a nap during this.

Caboose was about to speak again, but suddenly jumped out of the way as Wash and Carolina gave a battle cry. The wall caved in from a C4, debris hit the conebot as the two Freelancers charged at Caboose.

"WE GOT YOU NOW, MOTHERFUCKER!" Wash screeched as they raised mops. Carolina accidentally hit the conebot, pressing a button.

"Uh...guys?" Tucker was the first to notice the rapid beeping as Caboose dodged and weaved around the two attacking him.

The tall man jumped back to avoid a hit, landing right in the conebot's scanner range.

:ANOMALY DETECTED: The conebot beeped louder and tried to do something, but its circuits crackled then exploded.

Everything went black for them all.

......................

"Owwww..." Washington groaned, grabbing his helmet. He looked around to see they were in some kind of res carpeted theater with black seats. The others were scattered around him, sitting up with whines and complaints.

"Where's Caboose?" Donut mumbled, getting off of his place sprawled across Doc and Lopez.

Washington looked around at the notice, the cobalt armor of his teammate was no where to be seen. Tucker glanced up and yelped.

"There!" They followed his finger to see Caboose hanging upside down from the ceiling, his leg caught in some wires. From the limpness of his arms, he was out cold.

"Caboose!" Carolina called up to him. "Wake up, Caboose!"

"Asshole!" Church screeched. "Get down from there, dammit!"

The shouting made Caboose wake up with a groan, he shook his head and took in the situation, gazing at his trapped leg. "I'm upside down! Did I turn into a bat?"

"You're alright, Caboose." Washington spoke calmly as Carolina took out her grappling hook. "Carol's gonna get you down, just hold on!"

The female Freelancer aimed and fired, she cut the wires, leaving Caboose to free fall.

He quickly turned and landed in a crouch, the others breathing a sigh of relief, but froze at the sound of a child squealing from the bigscreen behind them.

_"Get back here, MJ! Captain Flowers will defeat you!"_


	4. Little Soldier Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caboose was a fighter his whole life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're not the best at updating, so don't be surprised if it takes us almost a year with some things.

_"Get back here, MJ! Captain Flowers will catch you!" A little boy around the age of seven ran through a field, his dirty blond hair wild and curly and blue eyes wide with excitement. He chased after another boy, this one with shorter hair but still almost the exact same as the other. Twins._

"What the hell is going on?" Tucker muttered, staring up at the screen in confusion. The other reds and blues slowly made their way over to a section of seats and sat down, Caboose a few chairs away from the others, oddly silent as the film...thing went on.

_The boys squealed with glee as they ran around each other, the nameless one tackling MJ with a shout. He grinned in triumph, only to be pinned down on the ground with MJ sitting on his back. "No! MJ, you're cheating!"_

_"How am I cheating, exactly?" MJ had a raspier voice, promising a deep tone in the future, raising an eyebrow at his struggling brother. He wore plain blue shorts and a black shirt, his brother switching the colors with black shorts and a blue shirt. He had no trouble holding down the other, most likely the older twin._

_"Because you work out with Dad, that's why! You're using muscles to your advetange!" The nameless boy pouted, messing up his last word as he gave up struggling._

"Advantage." Carolina, Simmons, and Washington murmured in sync, making the others roll their eyes. 

_"Advantage, and you would too. If you actually exercise." MJ got off of his brother and helped the other up. The boy pouted but followed after the older as he made his way to a two story house, a farm by the looks of the barn a ways away._

_The two boys jogged up the steps of the porch, passing an old looking basset hound that snorted but didn't get up to greet them. MJ opened the door and was greeted by a barrage of noise, the sounds of girls screaming echoing around the house as they walked inside, going passed a rack of shoes showing thirteen pairs of girl's footwear and only two pairs boy's._

"No men in the house, just a Mom." Tucker murmured, pointing out the one large pair of woman sized worker boots caked in mud. Caboose sunk lower in his seat at the edge of the scattered group, his behavior thankfully put off as him being bored. 

"Got alot of daughters though." Grif spoke back, arms flung over the backs of the two seats on either side of him. No one called attention to Simmons sitting in one of those seats, close to the Hawaiian man.

_"Mama! We're home!" The unnamed boy called over the noise as a group of blond or brunette girls ran passed, all around the ages 7-12. A woman's voice called back from the kitchen, causing the only two boys to walk inside to see a beautiful middle aged woman with dirty blond locks that showed gray streaks. Her dark blue eyes twinkled as she waved a spatula at the pair._

_"You boys check the crops like I asked?" Her voice was pleasant, a smooth tone hinting at a great singing talent. She gave a smile, showing dimples when they nodded at her question. A newborn baby girl squealed from ger high chair, drawing the mother's attention as she shooed the two children out of the kitchen. "Good, now go clean up and say hello to your father."_

"Looks like you were wrong, Tuck." Church snickered at the teal armored man, gaining the middle finger as they watched the twins head to a nice livingroom where they opened an antique looking cabinet sat in a corner of the room. "...I take that back."

_MJ and his brother gazed sadly at the photo of a handsome man with dark brown hair, a scruffy jaw twisted in a grin as brigbt blue eyes stared at the photographer under a military cap. An unrecognizable flag was folded neatly infront of it, several well cared for medals of honor laid out on the cloth. The two sat on their heels and lit a candle, the younger speaking first. "Hi, Papa! We got to go out into the fields today, Mama never let us do that before! Anyway, I just wanna say that I miss you, we all do. I hope you're alright, wherever you are now."_

_The boy gave a nod to the photo before he got up, walking out of the room, leaving MJ alone. The remaining twin stared at the picture in silence, causing the Reds and Blues to believe he would just sit there, until he spoke. "...I know your death wasn't an accident."_

"Oh, dear..." Donut brought a hand up to cover his mouth, the others in similar states of shock as the seven year old continued. The only two Freelancers gave each other a hard look, knowing what it was like.

_"They said it was a stray bullet, the one that hit your stomach." MJ murmured, eyes half closed as they slid to stare at the candle in thought. "But, since when does a single little projectile cause internal bleeding in the wrong organ, is my question. You were a healthy man with no illnesses, I checked your records, you had no internal problems with anything. Yet, you come back from being MIA with a collapsed lung and bleeding from the liver when the bullet hit your gall bladder."_

"This kid's smart." Sarge grumbled, gaining nods of agreement from the others around him. This child was definitely going somewhere in life, and they all hoped it wasn't down the same destroyed path they were walking. 

_"I'll find out who did this to you, Dad. I don't care what others think, I know you were set up for murder from that mission." MJ gave a hard glare before leaning close to blow out the candle, the screen going black with it. MJ gave a final sentence, voice a cold promise. "Even if it means I have to get my hands dirty."_

"I get that this is a movie and all, but...what do we have to do with it?" Simmons looked around at the scattered soldiers, leaning forward with his arms crossed. "What made Sarge's robot bring us to a Cinema of all things?"

"I dunno, none of my algorithms are making sense." Church's body glitched as he rubbed his hands together in thought, confusion lacing his tone. "It's like...it's like it's saying we're still at the base...but not at the base at the same time...?"

"Seems to me like we'll just have to wait it out and see." Carolina ended the conversation with a nod towards the screen as it lit up again to show the farmhouse up in flames. "I have a feeling this isn't going to be lighthearted..."

_MJ woke at the first signs of smoke, sitting up in his bed as fire crackled above him. His heart dropped as he quickly jumped out to run over to his brother's bed, he didn't bother to wake the other as he picked his younger twin up before sprinting out of the room. The blond ran passed more rooms and bellowed out. "FIRE! EVERYBODY OUT! THERE'S A FIRE!"_

_He barged through the front door and jogged a safe distance away to set his befuddled brother in the grass, he gave the other a once over before sprinting back as his older sisters scrambled out of the house with his mother. The woman was weeping as the sounds of wood collapsing inside grew louder, MJ didn't hesitate to run back in, only counting ten siblings._

_MJ took three stairs at a time, dodging falling debris as his feet burned from fire underneath, but he didn't care about the pain. He got to the top and heard the sounds of two girls crying for help, jumping over a wooden beam and got his foot caught on a splintered end. He grunted and shook off the pain, ankle bleeding profusely as he ripped a weakened door off of its frame to show his two five year old sisters cowering in the corner of the room. "Get out of here! Come on, we need to go!"_

_The two girls sobbed but followed him out, the seven year old lifting them over the fallen beams to get to the stairs. He got them outside in time for part of the house to collapse, glancing around in search of something. Or someone._

"The baby's still inside." Wash's voice was watery as he figeted in his seat, his older sister grasping his hand in her own, knuckles white under their gloves. The sim soldiers were in similar states of distress; Sarge gripping the arms of his chair, Simmons reaching for Grif's hand only to meet the other half way, Donut crying quietly into a stony face Doc, Church glaring at the ground with his fists clenched. Caboose was silent, shoulders stiff as he watched the screen under his helmet.

_"Baby Judith's still inside!" MJ's mother sobbed out, trying to go back to the house but her daughters held the woman back from injuring herself even more. Her arms were covered in burns, having crashed through a door to get to several of her children. Her son did it for her, not thinking twice as he ran back into the inferno._

_MJ covered his mouth with an arm as smoke tried to enter his lungs, glancing around and his eyes caught on something glinting in the light. It was his father's medals, the doors to the cabinet laying on the floor in flames. He stopped, staring at the photo as the fire grew closer to it, internally fighting with himself._

"Forget the photo, get the kid!" Washington shouted at the screen, no one trying to correct him as tears started to fall. They were soldiers in the middle of a war, but even they weren't that heartless to not save a child.

_The decision was made for him as a baby wailing cut MJ out of his thoughts, making the boy look up to where it was coming from. He didn't give the photo another glance as he raced up the stairs, a difficult task as they collapsed at his weight. The blond got to the nursery and kicked the door in, chest heaving as he spotted his sister's crib in flames. He ran over and got the baby out before the flames could get to her, sighing in relief when he saw she was just scared and not injured. It was short lived as part of the roof began to fall down above them._

"NO!" Church yelled out as the screen went grey with the smoke, a tense silence followed as it finally cleared again for them to see MJ curled up on the ground. 

_"I-It's okay, Judith. It's okay." MJ shushed the baby, arms shaking as he grunted when the roof above gave a groan. A wooden beam was impaled through his shoulder, blood splattered on the floor as he tried to move. The little girl under him whined and he gave a grin, like he wasn't injured. "L-Let's g-et you outta h-here, yeah?"_

_He got up on trembling legs, his youngest sister cradled to his chest as he looked around for an exit. MJ's eyes landed on the window and he got an idea, a risky one considering they were on the second floor, but it was better than nothing. The seven year old took a few steps back to get a running start, then bolted towards their only exit._

"Thirty percent chance he'll survive the fall." Church couldn't help but mumble out, pacing in the air as they all watched with bated breaths.

_The family of thirteen looked up as a window shattered above them, the dark form of their missing sibling and child falling to the ground. MJ's mother cried out as they all ran over, several of the girls gasping at the state of their brother, their other one managing to turn his twin over to see the very much alive bundle of the baby. Judith gurgled up at him, a tiny hand patting her unconscious brother's face as the screen went black._

"Dammit, kid! You better fucking be alive!" Wash stood up to flail at the massive screen, his freckle covered face red as he shouted. Tucker dragged him back down into his seat from his own place behind the Freelancer, allowing Carolina to clean her younger brother's face from the tears.

"Wash is really getting into this." Grif murmured, raising an eyebrow as Wash tried to sniffle quietly as Donut handed Carolina a handkerchief to use instead of her gloves. 

"You are too, idiot. Don't think I didn't feel you trying to break my fingers." Simmons whispered back, getting a snort from the other man as the screen brightened again to show a hospital. Everyone quieted down, settling back in their chairs after the chaos that was the last scene.

_"I'm sorry, Ms. Carserin. But your son doesn't have feeling in his right arm again, the wooden beam hit a major artery. It's a miracle he survived the bloodloss." An elderly doctor spoke to MJ's mother, Ms. Carserin, as they gazed into the window of MJ's room. The boy was bandaged up and connected to life support, a nurse trying to get a reaction out of his dead arm to no avail. "We need your permission to remove the limb, will you give it?"_

_The woman's eyes were red from hours of crying, her face pale and still in her sleepwear. She sniffled and glanced over to where her herd of children piled together in the small waiting room. MJ's twin was in the center of the crowd, holding Baby Judith close in his sleep. She didn't want to know how many of them wouldn't be there if it wasn't for her baby boy._

"Why do they always make the parent decide these things right after the accident." Doc was surprisingly the one to speak, running a hand through curly chocolate hair, adjusting his glasses. "It'll just cause guilt and self hatred later in life." 

_"...did they find out what caused the fire." Ms. Carserin's voice was flat as she hugged herself, not looking at the doctor when he sighed. She already had a feeling on what caused her home to burn down, her heart beating loudly in her ears as she waited for her suspicions to be confirmed._

_"It ah...it was a candle, fell over near some curtains and set it ablaze." He fiddled with his lab coat, not noticing how more tears fell down the woman's cheeks. "Someone must've forgotten it then went to bed for the night."_

"She did." Everyone jumped at Caboose's sudden statement, forgetting that he had been there the whole time. The man's shouders were tense, fists clenched in his sprawled lap.

_Ms. Carserin squeezed her eyes shut and gripped her arms tighter, regretting ever lighting that candle several hours ago. If it wasn't for her, she wouldn't be standing in the middle of a hospital watching as her injured son get prepped to remove his arm. She took a breath and spoke. "...do it. And you better get him the best god dammed prosthetic there is."_

_The doctor nodded and waved to a nurse who injected something into MJ's bloodstream, wheeling the stretcher out to the theater for surgery. A doctor shone a light on his unconscious form as an oxygen mask was placed over MJ's face. The screen faded with the sound a nurse stating they were ready to begin._

None of the soldiers spoke, a somber air filling the large room as they waited for the next part to happen. They knew the risks of war, losing limbs and lives left and right, but it was always so much worse to see it happen outside of the battlefield. They thankfully didn't need to wait long, the screen lighting up again before the silence could stretch.

_MJ was standing in front of a punching bag, chest heaving as he swung over and over, causing the container of sand to actually swing to and fro. Sweat beaded on his brow as he kept up a grim face, throwing hits faster as memories of the fire came back to him. Before it could get worse, a voice broke through his concentration. "You're gonna break the bag, again."_

_MJ narrowed his eyes at his brother, both looking older than their years. He stilled the swinging piece of equipment, walking over to a bench to unravel his boxing tape. "We'll just buy a new one, ain't like we're broke at the moment."_

_"Yeah, well. Try and explain that to Ma. She's the one sayin' we shouldn't spend all of this at once." His twin snorted, wearing a green hoodie and jeans while MJ wore sweatpants and and worn blue hoodie._

"He's hiding it." Donut whispered, it was soft but still echoed in the silence of the theater. The Reds and Blues didn't like the change in the two brothers, for one the unnamed child no longer had a speach impairment and actually talked perfectly, and their hair had began to darken to a brown promising black. But the look of sorrow in MJ's eyes made the Freelancers, and Caboose, clench their fists at the loss of innocence.

_"She's also the one sayin' that I'm not supposed to be out of bed, let alone the house." MJ scoffed, done with the tape on his left hand and started on the other. The pale metal stood out startly as he tossed the tape into his bag, the prothetic, or more of a robotic arm, moved flawlessly. It acted just like a real limb, causing an unsettling feeling when people gazed at the metal that made it. "Yet, here we are."_

_"...It's been a year, MJ." His brother spoke after a moment, voice soft as he stayed near the door, giving the older twin space. "The accident was never your fault."_

_"The why does it feel like it...?" MJ laughed humorless, slliding off his hoodie to show a dark gray muscle shirt. But the sight of metal reaching his shoulder blade made the other blond wince. "I hesitated in there. I almost saved the damn picture instead of our own flesh and blood. How is that supposed to make this any better?"_

_"It doesn't, but it also doesn't call for you to ruin your own health when it's so fragile. Don't think I don't see those bags under your eyes." His brother frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "When's the last time you slept? Without exhausting yourself to the point of passing out."_

_"To be honest? I'm not sure." MJ told the truth, pausing in the action of zipping up his bag, a water bottle in his hand. He straightened up and took a sip. "I'm not gonna get addicted to those pain meds, that's for certain."_

_"Either way, you need to get some rest. You're practically dead on your feet." MJ's brother stood and walked towards the door, waving a hand behind him. "Snuck in some chocolate mints and put 'em in your bed! You should be thanking me later!"_

_"Yeah. Thanks, Butch." MJ mumbled back, looking down at his metal hand in thought as the door began to close. He turned to the punching bag and gave it a final hit at the same time as the door slam._

_The bang made the screen change, a stamp hitting paper as an old woman accepted the application for enrollment to the army, the text visible for the audience to see. She handed it over to someone with a smile. "Here you are, dear. What was your name again? MJ?"_

_The young man who took the documents gave a charming smile, black hair cut short and blue eyes bright as his metal arm glinted in the light. He wore a standard cadet's uniform, pristine and ironed to perfection. "Yes, ma'am."_

_"That's an odd name isn't it?" The woman asked, gaining a hint of a smirk from the younger as he stood up to leave._

_"Well, let's just say...I'm an odd person."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why don't you guys suggest what chapter we should work on next?
> 
> Just comment down below what stories you would like to see more of and we'll do our best to meet your wishes!


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